Raff General Purpose is $4.99/mo at 2 vCPU / 4 GB. Contabo Cloud VPS 10 is €4.50/mo ($4.90/mo) at 4 vCPU / 8 GB — Contabo gives more RAM and cores for the same dollar, Raff gives faster per-core performance and instant deploy. Raff measured 2,266 Geekbench 6 single-core vs Contabo Cloud VPS at 1,163 (1.95× faster per core), and held CPU steal at 0.13–0.32% across a 26-hour endurance test vs Contabo climbing to 4.26% under load. Beyond performance, the operational gap is real: Raff provisions instantly, has one integrated dashboard, includes 24/7 human support with <10 minute response, and bills the same price regardless of region. Contabo requires KYC document verification before first deploy, runs two parallel dashboards (legacy + beta), applies location surcharges in US/Asia/Australia, and starts support with the ContaBro chatbot. Raff runs 10,000+ production VMs and is rated 4.5/5 on Trustpilot (14 reviews); Contabo is also 4.5/5 (9,156 reviews) with 11 global locations.
Contabo vs Raff: which is right for you?
- Need the cheapest RAM bundle? Pick Contabo. €4.50/mo for 4 vCPU and 8 GB is hard to beat on raw specs-per-dollar.
- Need data centers outside the US? Pick Contabo. 11 global locations vs Raff's single Virginia facility.
- Need instant deploy with no document verification? Pick Raff. Contabo's KYC verification can delay first deploy from hours to days.
- Need consistent performance under sustained load? Pick Raff. Contabo's Cloud VPS measured 4.26% CPU steal under load and cascaded into 4,058 request timeouts at 120 req/s.
- Need one modern dashboard, not two parallel ones? Pick Raff. Contabo runs a legacy panel and a beta panel simultaneously; some tasks (plan upgrades, location changes) still require the legacy interface.
Contabo overview
Contabo is a Munich-based hosting provider founded in 2003. The company sells two compute product lines: Cloud VPS uses shared CPU cores and starts at €4.50/mo ($4.90/mo) for 4 vCPU / 8 GB. Cloud VDS uses dedicated cores and starts at €34.40/mo ($37.50/mo) for 3 cores / 24 GB. Both run on AMD EPYC 7282 at 2.8 GHz with NVMe storage in KVM virtualization. Contabo operates 11 data center locations across Germany, the UK, the US, Singapore, India, Japan, and Australia.
Contabo's strengths are real: aggressive RAM-per-euro at the Cloud VPS tier, the largest geographic footprint of any independent budget VPS provider, and a 23-year operational history. The Cloud VPS line consistently offers larger memory bundles than US-based budget competitors at similar prices.
The trade-offs are documented in Contabo's own materials and consistent across independent reviews:
- Account verification: Contabo requires KYC document verification (ID upload and sometimes additional checks) before first VM provisioning. This is mentioned openly in Contabo's policy and is the #1 source of friction in new-customer reviews — verification can complete in minutes or stretch across days depending on case.
- Two parallel dashboards: Contabo introduced a redesigned Customer Control Panel in early 2025, but the legacy dashboard still runs alongside it. Some tasks (plan upgrades, location changes) are still only available in the legacy interface. The new dashboard is described in independent reviews as clean and improved; integrated firewall management and built-in monitoring/metrics are not yet part of either panel.
- Bandwidth policy: traffic is unlimited in principle but the public traffic-rules document permits throttling of "exceptionally high or disruptive" outbound usage.
- Location surcharges: plans in US/Asia/Australia carry an extra fee — the displayed European price is not always the final price.
- Support workflow: live chat and ticketing both require a logged-in account; first contact is with ContaBro (virtual assistant) before reaching a human agent.
- Refund policy: 14-day money-back guarantee on the first contract. Some reviews report friction obtaining refunds outside that window.
These trade-offs are why Contabo is genuinely cheap — they are the operational cost of the headline pricing. Many buyers accept them; the page is more honest if it names them.
Raff overview
Raff Technologies is a cloud infrastructure provider on owned bare-metal hardware. Raff runs AMD EPYC 4584PX processors with NVMe-backed distributed storage in a US data center (Vint Hill, Virginia). The platform covers virtual machines, S3-compatible object storage, snapshots, automated backups, VPC private networking, DDoS mitigation, and a one-click app marketplace — in one integrated dashboard.
Raff offers two compute lines: General Purpose uses shared CPU and starts at $4.99/mo (2 vCPU / 4 GB); CPU-Optimized uses dedicated cores and starts at $3.99/mo (1 vCPU / 1 GB). Customers start on General Purpose for web servers and dev environments, then move to dedicated compute when the workload justifies it.
Raff is battle-tested at scale: 10,000+ production VMs run on the platform today, and Raff is rated 4.5/5 across 14 verified reviews on Trustpilot. Raff provisions instantly — no KYC verification step, no document upload, no waiting room. The Raff dashboard, API, billing system, object storage, marketplace, and audit logs all run on the same infrastructure Raff sells — Raff runs on Raff. Similar comparisons against Vultr, AWS Lightsail, Hetzner, Hostinger, and OVHcloud use the same methodology described below.
Contabo pricing vs Raff pricing
The honest comparison is Raff General Purpose vs Contabo Cloud VDS (dedicated cores) — same performance class. Contabo's Cloud VPS exists at a lower price but is a documented different performance class, acknowledged below.
All prices monthly USD, billed monthly with no commitment. EUR converted at 1.09 (verified May 2026); original EUR shown in parentheses.
| Tier (closest match) | Raff General Purpose | Contabo Cloud VDS |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | $4.99/mo — 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 50 GB NVMe | $37.50/mo (€34.40) — 3 cores / 24 GB / 180 GB NVMe — VDS S |
| Small | $9.99/mo — 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 120 GB NVMe | $37.50/mo (€34.40) — VDS S |
| Growth | $23.99/mo — 8 vCPU / 16 GB / 240 GB NVMe | $48.83/mo (€44.80) — VDS M |
| Larger | $43.99/mo — 12 vCPU / 32 GB / 360 GB NVMe | $69.76/mo (€64.00) — VDS L |
| Heavy | $69.99/mo — 16 vCPU / 64 GB / 480 GB NVMe | $89.82/mo (€82.40) — VDS XL |
Raff pricing is from the pricing page. Contabo Cloud VDS pricing is from Contabo's public Cloud VDS page, verified May 2026.
About Contabo's cheaper Cloud VPS line: Contabo also offers a shared-CPU Cloud VPS line starting at $4.90/mo (€4.50/mo) for 4 vCPU and 8 GB RAM. The raw specs are attractive but it is a different performance class. Independent VPSBenchmarks measurements recorded CPU steal climbing to 4.26% under sustained load and 4,058 request timeouts at 120 req/s. If RAM-per-dollar is the priority and CPU consistency is secondary, Cloud VPS is the right Contabo product. If consistent performance is the priority, Cloud VDS is the right Contabo product — and Raff General Purpose matches it in performance class at one-seventh the price.
Contabo's help documentation states that some locations in the US, Asia, and Australia carry an extra location fee, so the displayed base price is not always the final price every buyer pays. Raff pricing is identical regardless of where you connect from.
Feature comparison: Contabo vs Raff
Compute
Raff General Purpose runs AMD EPYC 4584PX with deliberately low VM density. Geekbench 6 single-core measured 2,266 (1.95× higher than Contabo Cloud VPS at 1,163). Endurance testing recorded CPU steal between 0.13% and 0.32% across 26 hours.
Contabo Cloud VDS runs AMD EPYC 7282 at 2.8 GHz with dedicated cores. Cloud VPS uses the same hardware with shared cores; independent measurements recorded CPU steal climbing to 3.08% at 60 req/s, 4.26% at 100 req/s, and request timeouts at 110+ req/s.
Networking
Raff includes unmetered bandwidth — no per-VM tracking, no overage, no fair-use clause, no port-speed cap. iperf3 measured 9,574 Mbps upload peak.
Contabo advertises unlimited traffic with throttling permitted for "exceptionally high or disruptive" usage. Port speeds are capped per plan (200 Mbps on Cloud VPS 10 up to 1 Gbps on VDS XL/XXL). VPSBenchmarks iperf3 measured 485–496 Mbps to international endpoints.
Contabo wins on region breadth with 11 global locations. Raff has one US data center.
Storage
Raff uses NVMe-backed distributed storage with replication at the storage layer. Internal fio: 74,562 IOPS at 4K random read at typical OLTP load, 2,376 MiB/s 1M sequential read. Three free automated backups per VM, on-demand snapshots, extendable volumes.
Contabo Cloud VDS and Cloud VPS use NVMe storage. VPSBenchmarks fio on Cloud VPS: 31,565 IOPS aggregate at 4K mixed, 4,029 MB/s aggregate at 1M sequential. Cloud VPS measured higher 1M sequential write than Raff. Snapshots are included; automated backups and additional snapshots are paid add-ons.
Platform & ecosystem
Raff covers VMs, S3-compatible object storage, VPC networking, snapshots, backups, REST API, CLI, one-click app marketplace, and a Terraform provider on the public registry — in one integrated dashboard. Raff integrates with standard internet services (Cloudflare DNS/CDN, GitHub Actions, any S3-compatible tooling).
Contabo provides API access, private networking, backups, custom images, object storage as a separate product, and a one-click image catalog. Two parallel dashboards (legacy + beta) — some tasks still require the legacy panel. No integrated firewall management; no built-in monitoring/metrics in the current panels.
Operations and support
This is where the gap is operational, not technical.
Provisioning: Raff provisions VMs instantly after account creation — no document verification step. Contabo requires KYC document verification (ID upload, sometimes additional checks) before first VM provisioning; verification time ranges from minutes to days depending on case. This is openly documented by Contabo and consistently called out in new-customer reviews as the #1 source of friction.
Dashboard: Raff has one integrated dashboard covering VMs, storage, networking, backups, billing, and the app marketplace. Contabo runs two parallel dashboards: a legacy panel and a redesigned Customer Control Panel introduced in early 2025. The new panel is described in independent reviews as clean and improved, but some tasks (plan upgrades, location changes) still require the legacy interface. Neither Contabo panel includes integrated firewall management or built-in monitoring/metrics today.
Support: Raff provides 24/7 human support with average response under 10 minutes — direct access to the team operating the infrastructure for 10,000+ production VMs. Contabo's support requires a logged-in account; first contact is with ContaBro (a virtual assistant) before reaching a human agent. During busy times, chat is replaced with ticketing.
Refunds: Both providers offer money-back guarantees. Contabo's 14-day money-back guarantee covers the first contract; some reviews report friction obtaining refunds outside that window.
Performance benchmarks: Raff vs Contabo
This is one section. Pricing, geography, and operations matter more for many decisions.
Methodology
Raff General Purpose — internal benchmarks. Endurance test 26 hours, March 30–31, 2026. Single-pass baseline May 11, 2026. VM: 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 50 GB NVMe at $4.99/mo. Region: Vint Hill, Virginia. Tools: Geekbench 6, sysbench, fio, iperf3, redis-benchmark, continuous load harness.
Contabo Cloud VPS — independent benchmarks via VPSBenchmarks, trials December 2025 and April 2026. VMs: 4 vCPU shared / 8–12 GB on AMD EPYC 7282 at 2.8 GHz. Region: Lauterbourg, France. Tools: Geekbench, fio, iperf3, stepped-rate web load test.
Results
| Metric | Raff General Purpose ($4.99/mo) | Contabo Cloud VPS (~$5/mo) |
|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 single-core | 2,266 | 1,163 |
| Geekbench 6 multi-core | 4,057 (2 vCPU) | 4,700 (4 vCPU) |
| fio 4K random read IOPS | 74,562 | 15,768 (50/50 mix) |
| fio 1M sequential read | 2,376 MiB/s | 1,950 MiB/s |
| fio 1M sequential write | 1,199 MiB/s | 2,080 MiB/s |
| iperf3 peak | 9,574 Mbps up | 485–496 Mbps |
| CPU steal under sustained load | 0.13–0.32% (26h endurance) | 3.08% @ 60 req/s, 4.26% @ 100 req/s |
| Request timeouts at 120 req/s (stepped) | not run on Raff | 4,058 |
What this tells you
Per-core CPU is roughly 2× higher on Raff (Geekbench 6 single 2,266 vs 1,163). Contabo wins multi-core aggregate at this tier because Cloud VPS ships 4 vCPU vs Raff's 2 vCPU at the entry price. Random IOPS is ~5× higher on Raff; sequential 1M write favors Contabo. CPU steal under sustained load is 10–30× lower on Raff.
When you should choose Contabo over Raff
- You want the largest RAM bundle at the lowest monthly price — Cloud VPS at $4.90/mo for 4 vCPU / 8 GB is hard to beat on raw specs.
- You need data centers outside the US — Contabo has 11 locations across Europe, Asia, and Australia.
- You need Contabo Cloud VDS's dedicated-cores design at the European entry price.
- Your workload is sequential-write-heavy and you can use Contabo's higher 1M sequential write throughput.
- You're comfortable with chatbot-first support and the KYC verification step before first deploy.
- You accept the location surcharges in US/Asia/Australia and the bandwidth fair-use clause.
When you should choose Raff over Contabo
- You need to deploy now — Raff has no document verification step.
- You want consistent CPU performance under sustained load — Raff measured 0.13–0.32% CPU steal across 26 hours of endurance.
- You want unmetered, untracked bandwidth with no fair-use clause and no port-speed cap.
- You want 10× higher network throughput at the same price.
- You want one integrated dashboard, not a legacy panel running alongside a beta panel.
- You want integrated firewall management and built-in monitoring without external tools.
- You want 24/7 human support with under-10-minute response, included at every tier.
- You want simple pricing with no location surcharges.
- You want a Terraform provider on the public registry and a standard REST API.
Migrating from Contabo to Raff
A typical migration takes 30–90 minutes:
- Snapshot the Contabo VM in the customer panel and verify it completes.
- Create a matching Raff plan. Match or exceed vCPU and disk; right-size RAM based on real usage.
- Install the same OS on Raff. Raff supports standard Linux distributions and custom images.
- Rsync application data and configuration files from Contabo to Raff, or use a temporary WireGuard tunnel for sensitive payloads.
- Dual-write or replay logs briefly for stateful services. Raff supports private VPC networking to simplify cross-VM coordination.
- Lower DNS TTL to 60 seconds 24 hours before cutover. Switch records during a low-traffic window.
- Keep the Contabo VM running 7 days as rollback, then cancel.
Both Cloud VPS and Cloud VDS source VMs migrate the same way.
About Contabo
Contabo is a German hosting provider founded in 2003 and headquartered in Munich. The company operates 11 data center locations globally and serves customers in over 150 countries with Cloud VPS, Cloud VDS, dedicated server, web hosting, and object storage product lines. Contabo expanded geographically through 2024–2025 with new locations in Asia and Australia. Read more on the official Contabo website: contabo.com{:rel="external noopener"}.
Conclusion: Contabo or Raff?
Raff wins on performance, network, support, dashboard, and operations. Contabo wins on RAM-per-dollar at the entry tier and 11 global regions. That's the full picture.
If your priority is cheap RAM bundles or data centers outside the US, Contabo is the right answer. The pricing is genuinely competitive and the geographic footprint is real.
For everyone else — teams that want consistent performance, instant deploy, one modern dashboard, simpler billing, and 24/7 human support included at every tier — Raff is the wiser choice.